Matt Dominguez gets rare game off Saturday vs. Red Sox

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BOSTON — Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez finally took a seat on the bench Saturday, just the second time this season he didn’t start a game, and the first since April 20 — a stretch of 104 straight games played.

He entered Saturday tied for the major league lead with 122 games played, 118 of them at third base, the other four at DH. Gregorio Petit got the start at third base instead.

“Should I change the lineup?” Astros manager Bo Porter joked when asked about Dominguez’s position atop the ironman leaderboard. “No, he needed a day though. It was actually going to be either today or tomorrow.”

“It’s one of those things, you kind of just watch each and every player,” Porter said. “Obviously we’ve taken care of (Jason) Castro as best we can with the catching being a more strenuous position.”

Castro may well be off on Sunday, which combined with Monday’s scheduled off-day would give him two straight down days.

“I feel good,” Dominguez said. “I take pride in going out there and being healthy and playing every day. … I’m not the type of guy that’s going to steal a lot of bases. So I can kind of — you don’t want to say pace yourself differently, but you know, there’s not a lot of ways I can hurt myself.”

He’s had a down year at the plate. Among qualified third baseman, Dominguez has been the 25th most valuable in the majors this season, per FanGraphs’ wins above replacement. He’s hitting .229, but still has his pop, with 14 home runs.

“He’s had some big hits for us,” Porter said. “The power numbers, (21 homers) last year, he has a chance to match that. I think the biggest thing is the on-base percentage (.270 this year) and then the ability to hit with men in scoring position. Matt Dominguez is a corner infielder. To play that position, you have to profile as a guy that’s going to drive in runs, and that there is an area that he can definitely improve on.

“It’s more pitch selection and it’s more understanding situations. (Hitting coach) John Mallee has been on him. I’ve talked to him about some certain situations, understanding exactly who he is as a player. When you get into those RBI situations with multiple base runners, let’s face it, you’re not that fastest, any ground ball is probably going to be a double play, and you have an ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark.”